Lanuova Ferrara

Their names were Laura, Livia, and Anna. Together, they were known in the late 1500's as the Tre Donne di Ferrara - the three ladies of Ferrara. Their ensemble was praised by contemporary poets and won highest renown throughout Italy and Germany. However, women were not supposed to become famous for their professional achievements. And so, one of them was murdered by her husband - a count - who went unpunished. Thus, this is a tale of revolutionary women ahead of their time, living in an era when women had no protections.

Their names were Laura, Livia, and Anna. Together, they were known in the late 1500's as the Tre Donne di Ferrara - the three ladies of Ferrara. Their ensemble was praised by contemporary poets and won highest renown throughout Italy and Germany.

Firenze, metà del XVI secolo. Lucrezia, figlia di Cosimo de' Medici, vive nel palazzo di famiglia: è una bambina timida e silenziosa, che ama disegnare e adora gli animali, soprattutto quelli esotici che il padre tiene in cattività. Ma la sorella maggiore Maria muore improvvisamente alla vigilia del matrimonio con il duca di Ferrara, Alfonso d'Este, e per Lucrezia, poco più che dodicenne, tutto cambia: per cementare i difficili legami tra Medici ed Estensi, viene a sua volta promessa in sposa al duca e dopo pochi anni i due convolano a nozze. Lucrezia si trova catapultata in una corte estranea e piena di pericoli, dove le appare subito chiaro di non essere gradita… E la figura più ambigua è proprio suo marito. Chi è davvero Alfonso d'Este? L'innamorato premuroso, il musicofilo e amante delle arti, lo sposo desideroso di avere da lei un figlio al più presto, o l'uomo implacabile e il politico spietato?

Among the many states of late medieval Italy, one stands out for its unfamiliarity to an English audience and for its neglect in historical research: that of the Este family, lords (later Dukes) of the cities of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio in northern Italy.

As far as is known, Frye was an Englishman who may never have left England; one thinks of him as a 'northerne' musician. His music is 'wynd' music, that is, texted and thus conceived to be sung, sounded by means of the breath. The title of this CD also refers to an early-fourteenth-century poem "Blou, northerne wynd, send thou me my suetyng", beautifully set to music and sung by John Fleagle (1952-1999), who also performed Frye's music, and whose spirit will always live in our remembrance. –Crawford Young